AN: Hello everyone, remember me? Probably not, because I almost never update. :D

Enjoy this chapter anyways.

(Warning: this chapter contains violence, implied intentions of rape, and probably your unnecessary tears.)

xXx

When Robin slowly drifted back into consciousness, his entire body felt fuzzy. It was like someone took his bones out of his body and replaced them with lead; he didn't think he would be able to raise a single arm in his current state. He must have been drugged, he realized when he opened his eyes and found that he couldn't focus on a single thing. Well, eye.

What was covering his other eye?

"I see you're awake," a deep voice commented from above him, and he was able to make out a blurry mass of orange and black. Immediately, Robin felt a massive spike of fear and he went to tug at his restraints, only to find that there was nothing preventing him from moving.

"Wha's going on?" Robin garbled out, struggling to find the strength to sit up. He refused to take his eyes off of the man above him, afraid of what would happen if he did. "What... did you... do to me?"

The masked man put a hand on his shoulder, ignoring his flinch. "You were stabbed in battle, apprentice. I had to stitch up your wounds. I'm afraid I also had to dose you with morphine, or else you would have experienced a world of pain. It should be wearing off now."

Apprentice? That sounded... wrong. Robin did not like that term. "I don' understand," he murmured, confused by his apprehensive feelings. The drugs he was under the influence of were clouding his memories, but his instincts told him that this man was not to be trusted.

"You must be feeling confused; you did hit your head after all." The man finally withdrew his arm, much to his relief. "Do you remember anything, anything at all? Your name, perhaps?"

"Your name is Renegade..."

"My name is Robin!"

Robin stiffened, his memories slowly returning to him. He remembered the electricity, and the excruciating pain of losing one of his eyes. "Please don't..." he whispered, his eye falling shut again in anguish. "Slade, please..." he knew what would happen to him if he didn't say what Deathstroke wanted to hear, but he didn't want to obey him. Help was on the way by now, couldn't he stay strong for a few more hours?

"What's your name?" Deathstroke repeated, sounding impatient this time.

Tears burned Robin's one eye, and he clutched his bedsheets loosely as he forced himself to answer with, "My name is Robin..."

"Is that so?" Deathstroke's voice lowered dangerously, and Robin didn't dare to reply. He couldn't trust him to not panic and give in to what Deathstroke wanted him to do. "Very well. I think you need a permanent reminder of who you truly are, Renegade." Much to his discomfort, Slade ruffled his hair before leaving the room, and Robin's heart rate picked up from alarm. What was he planning?

He grunted as he tried to bring himself into a sitting position, but both the effects of the morphine in his system and his already weak limbs prevented him from being able to move much. All he could do was lay there and wait for his captor to return and commence whatever sick plan he had to torture him further.

"Batman and the others are on their way..." he reminded himself to wipe away his despair. "No matter what Slade does to me, I can handle it knowing that I'll be saved soon. I just have to hold on..."

But then, doubt clouded his mind. What if the Justice League was livid with him for killing Wally? Would they even want to rescue him after all of the grief they caused them? Sure, Slade called the JLA for some reason but that didn't mean any of them wanted to relieve him from his misery. In fact, Slade could have easily fooled them into believing that he willingly joined them. If he did that, no one would bother trying to save him.

Was he waiting for a hero that would never arrive?

He didn't have much time to consider it, because Deathstroke soon returned with what looked to be a long rod in his hand. "Do you know how ranchers mark their cattle so that everyone knows where they belong?" He asked, and Robin suddenly realized what that rod was; it was a branding iron. Slade chuckled at his terrified expression and held the bottom of it up the burning hot S-shaped symbol for him to see.

"S-Slade, don't," Robin pleaded, shaking uncontrollably as Slade continued to approach, ignoring his weak protests. "Please!" He shouted, wishing he could do something to prevent this from happening, but his limbs still refused to cooperate. He could only watch in mute terror as Slade sat him up and began to yank his shirt off.

No one was saving him from this pain, were they...

Slade threw his shirt onto the floor carelessly, and let his body roughly fall back onto the medical bed. "Pets need discipline in order to learn their place, and they need marks of ownership so they can never forget who they belong to." His one eye glinted maliciously. "I could always do something simple like collar you, but I believe this will have more of a permanent affect." And with that, Deathstroke rose the brand above his captive's chest. Robin squeezed his eye shut as he braced for impact...

But his feeble attempt to dampen the pain had no affect; seconds later his eye was open again, and he was screaming due to a brand new form of pain. The branding iron seared into his skin, and his entire body felt the white hot burning sensation being pressed against his chest. Even without his full strength, Robin was able to thrash around and arch his back, though neither of those actions compelled Slade to remove the source of his pain. It felt like a millennia passed before the mercenary finally ended his misery and removed the iron from his blistering skin. Even after the rod had been removed, waves of pain still sent spasms throughout his body, but his screams were reduced to gasping sobs.

He had just been branded by his worst enemy, marked as though he was nothing more than Deathstroke's belonging, or pet. This was too much for him to shoulder- this wasn't a wound that would ever heal, Robin was permanently branded with insignia of his... of his...

His Master.

"Now tell me, apprentice... What is your name?" Deathstroke asked lowly, roughly grabbing him by the chin so that he was forced to look him in the eye.

Robin shivered violently; even with the mask covering Deathstroke's expression, he could tell that there was nothing but malice in his gaze. If Robin defied him again, his punishment would only be worse than the last, and he wasn't sure his already fragile mental state could handle it. Besides, he must have sent a message to the Justice League at least four hours ago. If they were coming, they would have shown up already. "...My name is Rene-"

"Deathstroke!" Lex Luthor suddenly sprinted into the room, looking disheveled since the first time Robin has ever seem him. "There's an emergency, we have to evacu-" a loud crash shook the ground slightly, and the movement gave Robin a slightly nauseous feeling. What was happening, was there an earthquake?

Deathstroke turned to the bald man, but one of his hands pinned Robin's shoulder to the bed so that there was no room for escape. "What is it, Luthor?"

"The Justice League is attacking!" Lex hissed, glaring at the boy almost hidden behind the assassin. "And your little pet was the one that caught their attention, I'm sure. The Light is not pleased by this, Slade. Do you know how angry Vandal is?!"

Surprisingly, Slade did not seem concerned by either issues. Instead of reacting badly, he simply chuckled at the news. "Ah, the League didn't heed my warning..." Deathstroke turned around to face Robin, who froze at the way he stood. Something about Slade's posture reminded him of a predator stalking its prey, and seeing his worst enemy in that way sent a jolt of fear down his spine. Why did he have a sudden desire to completely cower away?

"That can wait until we leave!" Lex exclaimed. "Do you think you have the time to defile your apprentice before the League arrives?"

Something caught in Robin's throat as he processed the string of words, mainly the word defile. D-Did he just imply that Slade wanted to do that with him?! But why?! Did that mean that if they escaped before the Justice League could catch them, that would be his fate?!

No...Being Slade's loyal apprentice was one thing, but there was no way that he would allow this to happen. "Batman!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, and was immediately dealt a blow to his shoulder.

"Do not show disobedience now, Renegade," Deathstroke hissed, grabbing him by the top of his hair and pulling his head until he received a cry of pain. "Keep it up and the punishment you will receive will not be a gentle one."

Another shiver travelled down Robin's spine, but rebelling against Deathstroke was the only way he knew would buy him some time. And while his plan was sure to fail in the end, and he would suffer a great deal more as a consequence, he would have at least tried. "Help!" He shrieked, weakly pushing himself off of the other side of the bed, and he ended up as a heap on the floor. "Somebody help me!"

"Renegade!" Slade barked, circling around the bed to tower over his shivering form. "You insolent brat, you're in for the worst pain imaginable." He grabbed him by his throat and hauled him up to his feet. Robin made a choked noise of protest and swiveled his eyes over to the door, where Luthor had disappeared from. He must have decided that Slade wasn't worth waiting for.

Well, Luthor wouldn't be caught, but Slade definitely could be. "Deathstroke is in-" his shout was cancelled out by a cry of alarm when Deathstroke suddenly picked him up and tossed him over one of his shoulders. "Batman! Please!"

"Falling Grayson," Slade hissed in his ear, and he immediately felt his body go limb from unconsciousness.

xXx

"Where. Is. Robin?!" Batman roared, glaring Ra's Al Ghul down while Superman held the villain in place.

"You simply have to ask nicely, detective," the man said softly, not at all looking concerned over the fact that he had been captured. "I have no desire to keep any secrets from an old friend such as you. Robin is with Deathstroke down that corridor-" he nodded at a nearby hallway. "All the way down to the final door. But be warned, he may not be in the best condition when you find him."

"I'll take my chances," the Dark Knight growled, nodding at Superman to release him.

After Batman had figured out the location of the Light, it was only a matter of regrouping and then creating a small team of heroes that would raid the Light's headquarters and rescue the teen they were holding captive. This team consisted of Batman, Superman, Kid Flash, Black Canary, and Aqualad. Canary suggested that the team should mostly consist of people that Dick was more familiar with, just in case he wasn't in a great mental state when they found him. When they had arrived, most of the Light had already scattered, the only apparent exception being Ra's Al Ghul.

"I do hear more voices in that direction," Superman muttered, nodding as he shoved Ra's away from him. Aqualad, stay here and make sure he doesn't escape.

"The rest of us need to stick together so that we can face Deathstroke." Batman broke away from the group and led the way down the indicated passageway, barely listening for the sound of the rest of their footsteps behind him. This was it, they would finally bring Robin back home.

Taking in a deep breath, Bruce pulled a batarang out of his utility belt with one hand, and used the other to grab the door knob-

Before he could act, the door swung open and Deathstroke bolted out of the room, a gun aimed at Batman in his hand. Bruce barely managed to jump backwards as the sound of the firearm firing rang in his ears, and a bullet was embedded into the wall where he once stood. "Superma-" Before he could finish, Dick appeared in the doorway, face slack and eyes clouded.

He looked terrible. Even though he had only been in the mercy of his enemy for a couple of days, Dick was noticeably thinner, and paler too. On top of that, bruises covered a great majority of his skin, his wrists were scabbed due to how often he rubbed them against his restraints, and there was a fresh S-shaped mark burned into his skin. Besides that, a white pressure pad was attached to his damaged eye, looking all too much like an eye patch. Seeing Dick like this, scarred and mindless, it stirred a primal rage deep within him.

"Dick, are you in there?" He half whispered, somewhat hearing the shouts of Deathstroke as he was being brought down by the rest of the team. But he was focused on the mind controlled boy in front of him, the one who stared right at him but certainly did not see him. "Dick, it's me... It's Bruce." He slowly grabbed his cowl by the ears and flipped it off of his head so that his face was visible. "Please, snap out of it. I came here to rescue you, with Kid Flash and the League. You're safe now."

"Renegade, attack!" Slade suddenly ordered as Superman held him in his death grip. "Get this buffoon off of me at once!"

Before Dick could move, Batman lunged forward and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, preventing him from even attempting to carry out his orders. "Dick, listen to me! You have to fight this!" He shouted as his protege thrashed around in his grip. "You can't let Deathstroke turn into something you're not!"

"Enough!" Deathstroke snapped. "Apprentice, end him!"

Dick suddenly became very still, his eyes widening fractionally. "...Order received: kill Batman. Alternative programming activated." Before Batman could react, Dick flew out of his grip and rolled on the floor, revealing a dagger he carried in his hand. Bruce tensed, prepared to quickly disarm him and take him down the second he attacked.

But the attack never came.

Time seemed to slow down as Dick wrapped both of his hands around the dagger, and one quick movement later, a loud gasp echoed throughout the corridor as the blade was thrusted into Dick's abdomen. And then suddenly, the lights were on again; the mindless killing machine was replaced by Dick, who shakily pulled the dagger out of his stomach and let it fall into floor. "...Ouch," he whispered, his legs giving out from under him.

Bruce darted forward and caught him before he could fully hit the ground, eyes wide as he took in the bloody mess that was his ward. "What did you just do?!" He shouted, shaking him slightly. A small, shaky smile appeared on Dick's face before his eye fluttered closed with a pained groan.

"What happened?!" Kid Flash was suddenly at his side, pure and utter terror written across his face. "Why did he do that?!"

Superman spoke suddenly, "I used my x-ray vision to give him a quick look over, and it doesn't look like he tore through anything important. Still, we'll have to bring him to med-bay right away or else he'll bleed out- oof." Deathstroke used their brief period of distraction to break free from the Kryptonian, and glared at the fallen form of his former captive.

"Until next time, apprentice," he said lowly, and before anyone could make another lunge for him, he threw a smoke pellet below him which covered the area in a thick grey cloud.

"I'll get him!" Kid Flash and Superman said simultaneously, and they both raced into the smoke. Seconds later, a loud thud was heard and when the smoke cleared, Kid was sitting on the ground, rubbing his head while Superman remained standing with a confused expression. Besides the two of them, there was no one else to be seen.

"He escaped," Black Canary searched the area with a frustrated frown. "We have to find him immediately!"

"Canary and Superman will pursue Deathstroke. Rendez-vous with Aqualad before you begin your search. Kid Flash, you're with me." Batman began leaving the building without any other form of an explanation, but the others seemed to accept his orders for they filed out in their separate groups without raising any questions.

But as soon as Batman and Kid Flash came outside and into the hot desert sun, Wally had to be the one to change that. "Bruce, I can run him to the nearest Zeta Tube a lot faster than you could in the Batmobile. Let me carry him."

"Negative, we do not know where any of the Light members have gone to, and they might attack you if they see you. I cannot allow it." Bruce continued carrying his ward, but Wally ran into his path, giving him an agitated look.

"Bruce, I can handle it! If you don't trust me, he'll bleed out and die!" He snapped, and threw his hands out for Batman to hand Robin over to him. "Either you stop being an asshole and give me a chance, or Dick will die no matter what."

Bruce grit his teeth, but forced himself to think rationally. While he would rather keep Dick in his sight at all times to ensure that he would be safe, Wally was right. If Bruce brought him there himself, Dick would almost definitely die from the amount of blood he lost. "Take care of him," he said lowly, gently transferring Dick to Wally's waiting arms. "This is easily the most important mission of your life. Nothing is more important to me than his safety, do you understand?"

Wally nodded shortly. "I'll call you as soon as he's in Med-Bay," he assured. That was the only warning Batman received before Kid Flash disappeared in a blur of yellow, a gust of wind being the only sign that he was ever there in the first place.

Bruce looked up at the sky, holding his breath. What if Dick didn't make it? What if they were too late, and his death was already a certainty? Bruce had already lived through his 'death' once before, and he didn't think he had it in him to go through that again.

His comm went off about five minutes into his intense thoughts. "Yes?" He asked hurriedly, slamming his finger into the button that accepted the transmission.

"He's in Med-Bay."

Never before would anyone see such a relieved expression on Batman's face.